1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector which can perform waterproofing by elastically deforming a seal member when connecting a male connector and a female connector to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there is a waterproof connector which has been disclosed in Japanese Utility-Model Publication No. 8-1576. In the waterproof connector, when connecting a male connector and a female connector to each other, waterproofing between the male connector and the female connector is performed in the following manner. Specifically, a male terminal is inserted into a female terminal of a male housing, and then, a seal member having a threaded seal portion which is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the male housing, is closely abutted against an inner peripheral surface of a female-side hood while being elastically deformed by the inner peripheral surface thereof, thus waterproofing being performed.
In the aforesaid waterproof connector, however, an open end of a female-side hood and the seal portion of the seal member are both formed so as to be perpendicular to an insertion direction X. For this reason, in a process of inserting the female-side hood into a hood receiving space of the male connector, the open end of the female-side hood is in a state of simultaneously going beyond the seal portion of the seal member over the entire circumstance thereof. Thus, the following tendency appears therein. Specifically, an insertion force has a variation such that it rapidly increases, and thereafter, rapidly lowers, and then, becomes high. This causes a problem that an insertion work becomes complicated or troublesome due to an increase of the insertion force. Conversely, if the outer periphery of the seal portion is made small in order to achieve a reduction of the insertion force, a sealing performance is lowered, causing a problem of lowering reliability of the sealing performance.